My Review of All Weather Garden Furniture

Over the last years I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on garden furniture, testing out the various types of all weather furniture on the market, to try and find something that will actually last.

I’m glad to say I’ve finally found what I think will be a long term solution for me, but first, let’s look through all of the “failures” I’ve been through. To jump to my favourite, click here.

Cheap Plastic Aluminium

I’m sure like most of you, I thought I’d go for this cheap supermarket style of furniture first. It’s marketed as weather resistant, and I thought it would be a great bargain.

I should’ve known better, it didn’t even last a season! I won’t name and shame the retailer, but if you did a search for garden furniture in Google, they’d probably be on the first page (well known!). The webbing started to break and unwind, making the furniture unusable.

Plastic Shell Rattan

The next mistake on my list, plastic shell rattan furniture. This is the cheaper alternative to woven rattan, where it looks similar but it’s actually a hard plastic shell. This stuff is brittle to say the least, and I managed to damage the edging of one chair fairly early on.

That being said my set did last a year, however over winter the leg became weak, because apparently weather resistant is all well and good, but if it’s made from steel it will still rust when outside!

Ok no for the positive side, the solution!

All Weather Winawood

This stuff is gold! Honestly, you won’t believe how good this furniture is until you get a bench, or alternatively order a material sample. Winawood is made from compressed polystyrene, creating a hard material that has a grain effect, making it look and feel exactly like real wood. However as it’s man made, it’s really durable, fits together easily, and doesn’t need any teak oiling (unlike wooden benches).

The Winawood 2 seater bench in teak was my favourite, being extra wide, with plenty of room on the arms to support you while you’re getting back up. I recommend it to all my family and friends who come round to see me!

It isn’t often that I’m wowed by customer service, but I’d just like to see that Garden Centre Shopping UK are one of the best online retailers I’ve ever had the pleasure of doing business with to purchase garden furniture in the UK. I think it might be because they’re also a real garden centre, but their staff were so lovely in helping me, and I really want to say thank you for that kind and considerate service. It’s always great to see local businesses do well in this day and age, many have closed in 2017 and it’s great to see that there are still some good ones around England.

All Weather Conclusion & Further Reading

I think the moral of the story is you get what you pay for! There aren’t many options when it comes to all weather garden furniture, but I’d say the best alternative to Winawood would be UV stabilised all weather rattan, which seems to be a similar level of standard.